Anita Williams and the resurruction Stone
by Elisha Silverpine
Summary: Set a year after the second wizarding war. Anita Williams attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she learns magic, makes new friends and has a lovely time. She also stumbles upon a certain stone, one that had been long rumoured to be fictional; the resurrection stone, which brings along some interesting consequences...
1. The journey

**And here you go! The first chapter of the series! I sincerely hope everyone likes this chapter and that Anita isn't a Mary sue! If any corrections are required, do tell!**

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If you suggested that witches and wizards roamed the earth, most people would look at you with a strange expression, ask you if you were bonkers and-if you were really persistent-direct you to the nearest asylum. But not Anita Williams. She'd take you seriously, because she happened to be an eleven year old witch herself. Auburn haired and green eyed, Anita Williams lived in England with her aunt Smitha Williams and her only cousin Kavin. They had all gone through a great wizarding war in which the perpetrator of the war Lord Voldemort had been defeated by Harry Potter, 'The Boy Who Lived' as everyone called him. The war had torn apart many families. Anita's parents who were dark wizard capturers, also known as Aurors, had been killed by Voldemort's followers, when Anita was four. Even now, she terribly missed her parents, and would have gladly given away all her possessions just to see them again.

A year had passed since the war. And now, she was going to study magic at the Hogwarts School for witchcraft and wizardry.

Anita stared at the sign overhead that said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. She'd done it. She'd gotten onto platform nine and three quarters.

"Well, here we are." Aunt Smitha smiled. "Platform nine and three quarters. Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Anita looked around her in awe. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to the platform packed with people. Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Anita pushed her trolley, trying to find an empty compartment or, at the very least, a good seat. She finally found a compartment at the middle of the train. She put the cage containing her barn owl Mara inside first and then started to shove and heave her trunk toward the train door, but with little success.

"I'll help you." A tall girl helped her get her trunk inside the carriage with a little effort. She had long, straight black hair tied in a ponytail, a long nose and a friendly grin. When Anita started to thank her, she waved it off saying, "No problem. I'm Purvi Sayed. And you are?"

"Anita. Anita Williams." They shook hands. Compared to Anita's hands, Purvi's hands were much bigger.

"Anita!" Aunt Smitha called out in relief. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to. Write to me at the first opportunity you get, okay?"

"Yes Aunty." Anita kissed her aunt on the cheek, and then jumped as a whistle sounded. The train started to move slowly. Anita waved goodbye to her as the train started speeding up, and then pulled her trunk with her while trying to look for a place to sit.

"Why don't you sit with us? Our compartment's got some space, you know." Purvi told her, jerking her thumb at the second compartment to the right.

"That would be lovely." Anita gratefully followed Purvi to compartment, where two boys were sitting together and animatedly discussing something, three shoulder bags flung into a corner. One of them was stocky with black, floppy hair that fell into his brooding face while the other was leaner with dark curly hair, scrawny and had ears that stuck out a bit.

"Here we go." Purvi and Anita tucked her trunk in a corner of the compartment. The boys paused their conversation and took a look at her.

"Who're you?" The floppy haired boy asked Anita. He had a voice that carried an air of curiosity and excitement.

"Anita." She answered. "And you are?"

"Nikhil. This is my best mate Sachin." He motioned to the curly haired boy, who gave a sort of wave.

"We're all friends." Purvi said, leaning against her seat. "Nikhil's dad knows my mum and Sachin's mum knows both our parents. Speaking of which, Nikhil, do you have the sweets?"

"As if I'd forget that." Nikhil grabbed one of the bags -a dark purple one- and began to rummage through it.

"So, we're all first timers." Purvi grinned at all of them. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

Anita pondered over the question. "I dunno. Gryffindor maybe?"

"What about you, Purvi?" Nikhil asked her.

"Everyone expects me to get sorted into Gryffindor. 'Oh, wonderful! We'll have another Gryffindor in the family!' As if." She snorted and reached to her left to pull her bag towards her. "Slytherin sounds pretty cool, don't you think?"

"The dark lord was in Slytherin." Sachin said.

"Bah. Not every Slytherin is evil and not every evil witch or wizard was a Slytherin."

"You're not a pure blood though."

"So what if I'm a half blood? You-know-who's said to be a half blood too. That's good enough for me. What about the both of you?"

Nikhil pulled out a packet of toffees as he spoke. "I really don't know. My dad's a muggle and my mum's not around anymore."

"Not around? What happened to her?" Anita asked him.

"She was killed by death eaters. I was eight that time." He mumbled, turning his head away. The tone of his voice clearly said that he did not wish to discuss the topic.

"Oh." Anita sort of knew the feeling as her parents were casualties of the second wizarding war themselves. To change the subject, she asked Sachin, "What about you?"

"I'd fancy Ravenclaw. My parents were in Ravenclaw themselves." Sachin seemed to contemplate over the matter. "Or Gryffindor. I don't think I could be that clever."

" _Not clever enough_?" Nikhil stared at him. "You have to be joking; you read 400 paged books in a day, you quote any book you've read just once without difficulty, you know all the spells in _The standard book of spells Grade 1_ by heart and you consider yourself 'not clever enough'?"

Sachin nervously looked at everyone as he spoke, "My parents say that to get into the Ravenclaw dormitory, you have to answer a riddle posed by the eagle knocker-"

"The what now?"

"The dorm door has a knocker shaped like an eagle; it asks you a riddle every time you knock with it. I don't know if I can solve them! I bet Gryffindor is so much easier, you just have to say the password-"

"You'll do just fine." Purvi firmly told him. "Gryffindor's passwords aren't that easy to remember either; at least you just have to say the answer to a random question posed by the bird. I bet the Hufflepuffs are much better off. I've heard that their dorm is next to the kitchens."

"How do you know that?" Anita asked her curiously. It sounded like Purvi knew every nook and corner of the castle.

"My Aunt Meera was a Hufflepuff. But enough said. I'm having some toffees."

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past, helping themselves to the toffees.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

The boys leapt to their feet at once when they saw the candy, but Purvi and Anita declined. But just as Nikhil was paying for the Chocolate frogs and Cauldron cakes, they heard yells and what sounded like a furious scuffle. They leapt from their seats and moved to the fight scene, eager to find out what the commotion was all about.

"What on earth?" The woman took a look at the compartment in front of them and her alarmed expression changed into that of disapproval. "Well now, this is hardly what I'd call a proper and respectful way to settle a fight!" All four of them gazed curiously at the inhabitants of the compartment.

Inside the compartment were three boys-two of who looked as though they had been fighting- and two girls. One of the boys was big and bulky with cropped brown hair, warm brown eyes and a kind face. Among the quarreling boys, one had black silky hair that fell into his face, black eyes that held an intense look and a lazy, arrogant smirk. The other boy was of the same height as his opponent, had disheveled hair and a distasteful sneer. Among the girls, one was petite with short black hair that fell to her shoulders and big facial features. The other was taller with curly hair that seemed to spring out of her head and had an air of curiosity around her.

"Sorry." The sneering boy muttered, sending a glare in the direction of the smirking one. "You'd better watch your back, Srivastava."

"Sod off, Vardan." The smirking boy now triumphantly grinned as the other one left. He then faced the five viewers. "Sorry about that. I'm Abhijeet. That's my best mate Daya," He introduced the bulky boy, "And that's Shreya and Tarika." He indicated towards the petite girl and the curly haired girl respectively.

"Don't go quarreling now." The witch sternly told them as Abhijeet and Daya bought some pumpkin pasties. When Purvi, Anita, Sachin and Nikhil got to their seats, Anita asked them, "Was that Abhijeet Srivastava?"

"That was him." Purvi answered her. "The Srivastavas are a really old, really prestigious pure blooded family; they've got connections everywhere. They know many families, like the Shettys, the Pradyumans, the Kumars…"

"My aunt complains about him." Anita said, remembering Aunt Smitha complaining about 'that Srivastava boy', and how his parents failed to keep his ego checked.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a prat at times, but he's okay." Purvi said with a slight smile. "My parents say that once you look past the inflated ego bit, you'd see that he's a nice boy. Evidently they haven't heard any of the stories about his pranks."

"He's a prankster?"

"A _major_ one." Purvi snickered. "Looks like Gryffindor's going to receive its next prankster. I bet he'll give Professor McGonagall a high blood pressure before the term gets over."

"She had the Weasley twins to deal with, and that too when she was just a teacher. I highly doubt that the Headmistress of Hogwarts is going to be put off by one boy who plays pranks on a daily basis." Anita replied with a slight smile.

"I think we're almost there." Sachin commented, looking through the window at the sky, which had started to darken. "We'd better put on our robes now-HEY!" He yelled as Purvi grabbed both him and Nikhil and steered them out of the compartment.

"We're changing first, so you're standing outside to cover us." Purvi told them and shut the door. They changed into their robes quickly; the train had started to slow down a bit by then. When they were done, they got outside the compartment and waited while the boys changed into their robes. They saw Shreya and Tarika standing outside their compartment.

"Hello." Shreya waved at them. "Are we there yet?"

"I think in another few minutes." Purvi shrugged.

"This is brilliant." Tarika said, her eyes shining with excitement. "I'm going to excel at transfiguration, I just know it. How about you lot?"

"Potions sounds fun." Anita mused.

"No comment." Purvi shrugged again. She then rapped on their compartment door and asked, "Oi! What's taking so long? Anyone died over there?"

The compartment door slid open to reveal Sachin, who beckoned them to come inside. With a quick, "See you at the castle!" directed at Shreya and Tarika, Purvi and Anita got back inside the compartment and sat down. Just then, a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

A crowd of students were already making a beeline towards the nearest exits, which the four of them joined. The air was cold and all of them shivered as they got out onto a small and dark platform. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and a booming voice called out, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

A giant of a man was holding the lamp and calling out to the first years. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. As the children hurried over to him he called out once again, "C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Slipping and stumbling, they followed the man down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was dark on either side of them. Nobody spoke much.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," The man called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" Purvi gasped. "It's beautiful." She said in an awestruck voice.

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" The man called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Anita, Purvi, Nikhil and Sachin clambered into one. "Everyone in?" shouted the giant man, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. The silence was broken by Anita's excited whisper. "If the castle is this big, then I wonder how…how…" She desperately racked her brains for the right word.

"How grand it must be inside?" Sachin completed the sentence for her to which she nodded gratefully.

"Heads down!" yelled the man as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Nikhil nearly fell into the water as he attempted to climb out, but was saved by Purvi, who yanked him back onto his feet. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge oak front door.

"Everyone here? Alrigh' then."

The man raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door was opened by a dumpy witch in blue robes.

"The firs' years, Professor Sprout." said the man.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

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 **Done! Was it any good? Read and review!**


	2. The sorting

**Expect monthly updates. I'm so sorry, but my tests are coming up. Also, spread the word! Get other readers to check out this story!**

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The dumpy witch pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big Anita was pretty sure she could have fit her house and garden there. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor Sprout across the flagged stone floor. The drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right could be heard as they walked, but Professor Sprout showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously, and excitedly whispering to each other. Anita was about to ask Purvi what they were supposed to do at the moment, when the witch cleared her throat significantly, thus rendering the group of children quiet.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" said Professor Sprout with a warm and amiable smile. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room-"

"Exactly how does the sorting take place?" A voice called out from the center of the huddled group; it was the sneering boy from the train, the one whom Abhijeet had called Vardan.

"That's for you to find out, Mister…?"

"Vardan. Rocky Vardan."

"That's for you to find out Mr. Vardan. As I was saying, the four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs earn you house points and rule breaking results in loss of house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting-"

SPLASH. Several people yelled as a dozen water balloons fell on them, effectively dousing them as well as the children standing next to them with ice cold water, possibly drawn from the lake. On hearing a cackle come from above them, everyone looked up to see a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth floating cross- legged in the air with a few brightly colored water balloons in both his arms. Professor Sprout, who had been hit with a particularly large green one, glowered at the man.

"FOR HEAVENS SAKE PEEVES!" She roared and reached for her wand, "THE BLOODY BARON WILL BE HEARING ABOUT THIS ONE!"

The man simply gave another loud cackle and vanished with a POP sound that reverberated through the room and the hall. Sprout simply drew out her wand and waved it around while muttering something under her breath. The water vanished and everybody was dry again.

"Well then," She arranged her frayed brown hat on her head, "I suppose there's no use delaying the ceremony any longer now, is there? Form a line and follow me. The Sorting ceremony ought to be beginning now."

Anita got into the line and stood in between Tarika and Purvi, feeling nervous and thrilled. The line of children walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

To say that the Great Hall was huge would have been an understatement. The great hall was simply enormous and magnificent. It was lit by countless gleaming candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, (to Anita's astonishment) ghosts shone misty silver. Anita noted that there was a forlorn look on the older students' faces, as she studied each of the tables. The students sitting at the green decked table in particular, had a sort of sorrowful and uneasy looks on their faces as though they were expecting something terrible to occur after the sorting.

The line halted so abruptly, Anita bumped into Purvi rather painfully and mumbled a quick "Sorry," trying to find out what was going on at the front. Sprout seemed to have put a large old patched and frayed and extremely dirty hat that had burns on its top half on a short stool. For a moment there was silence. Then, a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"That's how we're going to be sorted?" Purvi gave an excited mutter to no one in particular.

Anita found that her legs were shaking a bit. She felt nervous. She didn't feel too brave, intelligent or cunning at the moment. Perhaps Hufflepuff would suit her better. She was ready to work, though she did tend to slack off at times.

Professor Sprout now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Agrawal, Vineet!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted, and the table on the right cheered and clapped as a dark haired boy went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Bishop, Kate!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

A blond haired girl walked to the table second from the left cheering for her with a smug smile on her round face as though she'd gotten the best of the best.

"Chheda, Shreya!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table on the far left exploded with cheers as Shreya unabashedly fist pumped into the air and practically skipped to the Gryffindor table. Anita imagined herself among the Gryffindors as well at that point.

After a "Drew, Felicia" ("HUFFLEPUFF!") and "Hardy, Frank" ("GRYFFINDOR!"), "Khanna, Suraj," a tall black haired boy became the first Slytherin. He was met with BOOS from the other three houses and cheering from the table on the far right. To the booing houses, he coolly smiled at them and walked to the green table proudly.

"Kumar, Tasha!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Kumar, Rajat!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"They don't look related." Anita whispered to Purvi in confusion, as they watched a dark skinned boy join Tasha, a fair skinned, raven haired girl.

"I dunno, Kumar's a common surname." Purvi whispered back as "Lovelace, Regina" became a Slytherin.

When "Mashru, Vivek", a boy with a wide mouth, dark hair and mischievous eyes got sorted into Hufflepuff, he actually cheered loudly in front of everyone and ran to the Hufflepuff table in excitement after yelling at Tasha, "I _told_ you I'd get sorted into Hufflepuff, didn't I?" Tasha promptly glared at him and yelled at him to shut up and get to his seat.

After Tarika joined the Ravenclaw table, the line seemed to get much shorter. Abhijeet and Daya were sorted into Gryffindor the second the hat touched their heads. Purvi got her wish after thirty seconds; the hat had waited before yelling, "SLYTHERIN!"

Nikhil and Sachin got into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively as well. The whole process seemed to pass in a blur; Anita was seriously starting to wonder when her turn was going to come. After "Phadnis, Freddy", "Vardan, Rocky" and "Varma, Muskaan"-

"Williams, Anita!" That shook her out of her reverie. Anita gulped and shakily made her way to the stool; the minute the hat was plopped onto her head, she was engulfed in darkness. The hat was too big for her.

 _My, my._ A small voice said in her right ear suddenly, making her jump. _Plenty of daring and courage. A good deal of recklessness is there, but you have some common sense to make up for that._

 _Excuse me?_ Anita felt indignant at that remark. _I'm not too reckless._

The voice chuckled. _There's no doubt about it._ _I know just where to put you._ "GRYFFINDOR!" It yelled to the hall.

Cheers exploded from the Gryffindor table as Anita made her way there, shock and delight coursing through her. She sat next to Muskaan, a girl with short black hair who enthusiastically clapped her on her back so hard, she had to hold on to the table to prevent herself from falling.

"Careful now." A female voice said. Anita turned to face the owner, and gaped in shock. She was sitting next to a teenager with inquisitive brown eyes that looked like they had seen the worst of the worst mankind had ever offered them and bushy hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She wasn't the only one to do so. Several others were craning their heads to look at her, some staring open mouthed, others looking conflicted as though they wanted to talk to her, but were too shy to do so. Everyone knew who this student was.

Anita Williams was staring at Hermione Granger, war heroine and 'the smartest witch of her age' as the ministry and everybody else called her.

"For the love of god," Another voice said, and a red haired girl on the opposite side of the table shook her head, "She's not a show piece to be stared at! And neither am I!" She added, glaring at some of the students sitting on her left, including Shreya and Abhijeet.

"You're Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley!" Anita squeaked out in a high pitched voice that made its appearance whenever she was excited and blushed in embarrassment.

"Err, that we are." Hermione smiled a little nervously, scratching the back of her head uncomfortably. Ginny merely nodded in the same uncomfortable manner. They were spared from further conversation by the headmistress Professor McGonagall who stood up at that moment.

"Welcome," She said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I have only a few words to say: Let the feast begin." Anita looked at table and gasped.

The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. There were so many dishes: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. Anita piled her plate with some roast potatoes, fries, gravy and the humbugs and began to eat. It was all delicious.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights beamed at the first years. "I don't think I've introduced myself. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower at your service."

"Aren't you Nearly Headless Nick?" Abhijeet suddenly asked. The ghost's smile was replaced with a miffed look.

"That's _Sir Nicholas_ to you, my good lad." He stiffly said and floated off to the other end of the table.

"How can a ghost be nearly headless?" Someone asked, but his question was answered by a scream on the other side of the table. Nicholas' whole head had swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. "Oh yuck!" Muskaan gagged. Anita privately agreed with her as she tried shaking the image of silver blood and guts out of her mind. As she peered at the Ravenclaw table, she caught the eye of Sachin who waved at her a bit before talking to Kate.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…the list was endless. Anita grabbed a couple of éclairs as everyone started eagerly talking.

"None of my parents are magical." Muskaan was telling Shreya. "They were so pleased when I got my letter-at least they were once their shock was gotten over with."

"I'm a half blood." Shreya said. "My dad's muggleborn and my mum's a half blood like me. But blood purity isn't important. I wonder what we'll be learning?"

"You'll be starting off with the basics of course." A girl with straight hair in a ponytail and fair skin answered. She had a silver badge with the letter P attached to the front of her robes. "In the beginning, it's mostly theory and a little bit of actual magic done. I'm Aditi, by the way." She said and shoveled tarts into her mouth. "Bot boi the-"

"Aditi!" The boy next to her sharply exclaimed. "Don't speak with your mouth full!"

"Surry Ajatasharoo." Aditi didn't sound particularly sorry as she swallowed her food. The boy too had the same silver badge pinned on the front of his robes. He shook his head as she continued shoveling more desserts into her mouth.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and once again Professor McGonagall got to her feet. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem-just a few more words now that we all have eaten and drunk our fill. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And now, I have something very serious to say." McGonagall's face sported a stern and concerned look. "A war has come and passed. Many losses have occurred. We all have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins and close friends. I must remind you that each of you is to support one another and unite as one. House unity is of the utmost importance. Each house has produced witches and wizards, some who made good choices, and others, bad. No one house is to take the full blame. You must get along with each house other than your own. I hope you will not make unnecessary mistakes." Her eyes flashed to the Gryffindor table, which had booed on the Slytherins the most.

"And now, it is time all of you were off to bed. Good night!"

With that, everyone got up from their tables; Aditi and the other boy Ajatashatru (Anita guessed that was what Aditi must have been attempting to pronounce) were calling out to first years, "First years! Follow us please! We're prefects! Gryffindor first years, follow us!"

The Gryffindor first years followed the prefects through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. They were led through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and after climbing one more staircase, they came to a sudden halt. At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said.

"Honeysuckle," said Ajatashatru, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Aditi directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and Ajatashatru showed the boys through another. They found five four-poster beds hung with deep red, velvet curtains waiting for them. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed. Soon, the silence was disturbed by a peaceful snore.

As soon as Anita's head touched her soft and fluffy pillow, she fell into a peaceful slumber. The last thought on her mind as she fell asleep was that of whether her cousin Kavin was missing her already.

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 **Done! Is it good? Read and review!**


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